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Here a roundup of today's reviews and articles:

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990X 32-core CPU Listed for €1509
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990X Makes an Appearance on 3DMark
AVerMedia Live Gamer 4K Capture Card Review
Cooler Master MA621P TR4 Video Review
Cooler Master MasterCase H500M Review
Huawei MateBook X Pro Review
Lust for Darkness Review
Microsoft Classic IntelliMouse Review
Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 and Noctua NH-L12S Review
Raijintek Leto Pro RGB Review
Sennheiser GSP 600 Review
Sonos Beam Review
Sudden Strike 4 Xbox One Review
XOTIC PC G7 Avenger Ryzen Review



AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990X 32-core CPU Listed for €1509

After rearing up its performance chops in Cinebench, impressing with its score (as well it should, considering it's a 32-core, 64-thread beast), we can now add another, arguably more important metric to the upcoming AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990X... Price. And pricing, if the early listing from German site Cyberport.de is anything to go by, seems adequate to the level of performance - and bragging rights - earned from dropping one of these onto your AMD system. €1509 (~$1750) is almost double that of AMD's previous top-end Threadripper 1950X, which is on sale, through Amazon.de, for €777 ($999). A doubling in cores does seem to warrant a doubling in price - the fact that the 2990X is selling for less than that, though, remains slightly impressive. Let's see what Intel can pull anything else to compete out of its proverbial hat.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

AMD Ryzen Threadripper 2990X Makes an Appearance on 3DMark

It's becoming clear that AMD is naming its 32-core flagship HEDT processor Ryzen Threadripper 2990X. The chip was even listed on a German online retailer for a little over 1,500€, which if it turns out to be true, could spell doom and gloom for Intel's Core X HEDT processor lineup, as it could demolish the price-performance equations of every Intel SKU priced 1,000€ and above.

Thai PC enthusiast Tum Apisak scored a screenshot of this chip lurking around on 3DMark database. The screenshot hints at the possible clock speeds of the 2990X, with a rather healthy nominal clocks of 3.00 GHz, with boost frequencies of 3.80 GHz. XFR 2.0 could automatically overclock the chip even beyond the boost frequency, if your cooling is up to the task. The screenshot also reveals that this database submission was made by someone testing the processor, as a prototype motherboard codenamed "Whitehaven OPS rev B CF4" is listed. AMD is expected to launch its 2nd generation Ryzen Threadripper HEDT processors, based on the 12 nm "Zen+" architecture, some time in Q3-2018.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp

AVerMedia Live Gamer 4K Capture Card Review

Little by little, my home office has been turning into an AVerMedia hub of various sorts. My soundbar’s AVerMedia, my headphones are AVerMedia (review forthcoming), and all of my console capture equipment has been AVerMedia ever since I first purchased the Live Gamer Portable. I thought I was set on capturing video after working with the Live Gamer Portable 2 Plus, but ultimately, I was limited to only being able to record at 1080P60. With a newly built PC, I felt it was about time to upgrade my video capture equipment as well and had been eyeing an internal PCI-E capture card for some time. Most cards seemed out of reach, but to my surprise, AVerMedia was launching a brand new card refresh including an internal card that could work with HDR and a higher performance range. Not limited to just passing through these higher resolution/framerates, AVerMedia’s Live Gamer 4K can capture whatever the player can run. Compared to the competitors on the market, how does AVerMedia’s new flagship card stack up?

Read full article @ Wccftech

Cooler Master MA621P TR4 Video Review

When it comes to the task of keeping an AMD Threadripper system cool, there isn’t a ton of selection out there. And a quick browse through a few retailers lists your options as one of dozens of compatible all-in-one liquid coolers, or just a selection of FOUR traditional air coolers. With so many companies going with only water cooling, is it even possible to tame a Threadripper with air? Well, Cooler Master has a possible solution in the MasterAir MA621P TR4

If it looks familiar, you’re right for more than one reason. The 621P includes slight modifications from the existing MA620p to make it compatible with AMD’s TR4 socket. And both coolers are essentially rev’d up versions of the venerable Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo, bringing much higher cooling capacity and a splash of RGB thanks to the two included MasterFan 120Rs.

Read full article @ Modders-Inc

Cooler Master MasterCase H500M Review

Cooler Master has released a third version of its H500 case, this time called the MasterCase H500M, where the M implies it is a high end ‘Maker’.

The original H500P suffered in various respects, including problems breathing through the front panel. These issues were pretty much fixed with the H500P Mesh, and now we have the H500M with glass on four sides along with ARGB (Addressable RGB) lighting in the two 200mm fans in the front. It is worth noting the H500M is an additional model to the range and does not replace the existing models.

If you stand back a short distance the H500M looks fairly similar to the H500P Mesh, however a closer look reveals a list of changes that add extra bling and pizzazz. The most obvious differences are the extra glass panels and the revisions to the power supply cover. You will not, of course, appreciate the new ARGB lighting in the two 200mm fans at the front until the PC is built and ready to run, however that is a treat that is worth waiting for.

Read full article @ Hexus

Huawei MateBook X Pro Review

Huawei has not been in the PC game very long, but in just a short couple of years they certainly raised the bar for the competition in the Ultrabook category. Today we’re taking a look at the latest Huawei MateBook X Pro, and with this release, the traditional PC makers need to stand up and take notice.

The MateBook X Pro features a laundry list of features you’d look for in a new Ultrabook. The PC world has fully embraced the thin-bezel revolution, and Huawei has taken this to an impressive 91% screen to body ratio on their latest Ultrabook, which features just 4.4 mm bezels all the way around. The small jump from the previous generation’s 88% was achieved by relocating the webcam to the keyboard, which we’ll cover later. In addition to the thin bezels, Huawei has kept the fantastic 3:2 aspect ratio display as the MateBook X, but increases the display size and resolution, to 13.9-inches and 3000x2000 respectively.

Read full article @ Anandtech

Lust for Darkness Review

Finally, a horror adventure game that featuring the occult, spooky mansions filled with steam-powered sex toys, and horrible naked monsters!

Lust for Darkness comes to us from a successful Kickstarter campaign promised us an erotic psychological horror game inspired by work of H.P. Lovecraft and paintings of Zdzisław Beksiński. While the tone and look really nail the weird psycho-sexual vibe it really suffers from some performance anxiety in the gameplay department. Lust for Darkness has a ton of sex and nudity but is never actually sexy.

Read full article @ Wccftech

Microsoft Classic IntelliMouse Review

Microsoft's new Classic IntelliMouse is an affordable throwback to a (slightly) simpler time, when mouse pointers typically contained large internal balls with rollers that would, over time, accumulate dust and become stuck.

The first IntelliMouse hit the market in 1996, with a number of then-unique innovations. Over the years, the range pioneered the scroll wheel, while popularizing optical lasers over trackballs, ergonomic design, and dedicated thumb buttons.

Microsoft is revisiting the classic mouse design with the new Classic IntelliMouse, which faithfully recreates what made some of the original mice so special, with a bit of modern flair.

Read full article @ Windows Central

Noctua NH-L9a-AM4 and Noctua NH-L12S Review

Last fall I spent weeks testing and retesting a whole collection of ITX focused heatsinks that had AM4 support. At the time the first ITX boards were just coming out and a lot of the coolers didn’t support the new socket and those that did most people didn’t know how they would perform when packing 6 and 8 core CPUs into the form factor. I highly recommend everyone check out the article. Well, not to long after that Noctua introduced two more heatsinks and I’ve been wanting to see how they compare. I finally got around to it and today we are going to check out the NH-L12S and the NH-L9a-AM4.

Read full article @ LanOC Reviews

Raijintek Leto Pro RGB Review

It occurred to me the other day that there are three main 'categories' of manufacturers involved in the PC components and hardware industry. First up, you have 'The Titans'. Corsair. MSI. Asus. Gigabyte. Etc. No matter where you are in the world, you will have heard of these guys. They're big names and are perhaps some of the first ones you think of when thinking of the PC market. Next up, the 'maybe' category. Depending on where you are, or how long you've been in the scene, you might have heard of them. Then there are the unknowns or the straight up newcomers.

I, naturally, had heard of Raijintek several times before. Established in 2013, they make a wide array of PC components but are the best known for their notable range of CPU and GPU cooling products (the former might be fairly common, but aftermarket GPU air coolers are becoming more popular). Today we have a product that nestles itself firmly into the highly populated air cooler market. There are many competitors, so suffice to say that the fairly diminutive Leto Pro RGB has its work cut out for it. The unit itself is a dual fan 120mm cooler that sports a relatively slimline single tower heatsink. A plus point to visuals here being that the heatsink itself is totally black, which I really like. 4x 6mm heat pipes taper into a direct contact design ('CDC' for short), rather than using a polished plate. It's hard to say which design is preferred in the industry, as for as many direct contact coolers I have seen, there seems to be an equal number of 'plate contact' units. Anyway. Naturally, a big draw of this cooler is going to be having those two RGB enabled fans at a relatively low price point. At the time of review, the Leto Pro RGB was available from at just £34.99. The cooler is 40.90 EUR from CaseKing, I was unable to find a US distributor. This might well tie into my point above about certain brands only being readily available in certain places, and it wouldn't surprise me at all to learn that perhaps Rajintek has not yet pushed heavily into the American market as of yet. Who might want this cooler? Well, it's an excellent question.

Read full article @ The Guru of 3D

Sennheiser GSP 600 Review

Sennheiser has carved out quite a reputation in the audio industry, as they're well known for both their low end and high-end headphones, as well as their PC, and GAME series of headsets. Sennheisers' GSP lineup is a little fresher and brings a new design language as well as other features. Their latest offering is the GSP 600 which is the most high-end headset in the GSP lineup.

Read full article @ Vortez

Sonos Beam Review

First unveiled earlier this month, Beam is the latest smart speaker and TV soundbar from wireless speaker maker Sonos. The compact TV soundbar promises hi-fi music playback and voice control through Alexa — all at an affordable price. Sonos Beam hits the market later next month, but weve been testing it for a few weeks ahead of its launch.
For the purpose of this review, Apples new AirPlay 2 wireless streaming feature wasnt ready for testing — stay tuned for our full impressions next month when Sonos adds the feature.

Read full article @ 9to5Mac

Sudden Strike 4 Xbox One Review

Sudden Strike 4 brings PC style real-time strategy to Xbox One.

Due to the fact that controllers are less intuitive than mouse and keyboard when it comes to advanced controls, real-time strategy (RTS) games rarely come to consoles. The last one to be released on Xbox One with major success was Halo Wars 2, over a year ago. However, thanks to its gameplay quality and well-designed controls, Sudden Strike 4 will bring Xbox players a fantastic RTS experience.

Read full article @ Windows Central

XOTIC PC G7 Avenger Ryzen Review

XOTIC PC looks to turn a few heads with the G7 Avenger Ryzen gaming PC. Featuring AMD's Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 1060 6GB, it offers compelling performance with an elegant and well built design all backed by a five year warranty.

XOTIC PC has been around for years, having been founded in 1999. Nearly two decades later, they are going strong as one of the largest system integrators in the United States, offering not only their own laptops and desktops, but systems from MSI, ASUS, Sager, HP, Gigabyte, Alienware, AORUS and more. They don't offer beige box systems with shiny graphics cards either. Users can customize their systems in nearly every way by even going so far as to go for full-on water cooling with hard tubing. Simply put, XOTIC PC really does offer everything you could want if you are looking for a pre-built system.

Read full article @ TechPowerUp